In response to the May 23 killing of six people in Isla Vista, Calif., by 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, California lawmakers and others called for stricter gun laws and changes to how law enforcement deal with the mentally ill. Editorial cartoonist Joe Heller wonders if something even more dramatic might be in order, while Adam Zyglis thinks lawmakers in Washington have buried their heads in the sand.

Regardless of whether graduates at Harvard, Smith, Brandeis, Rutgers, Haverford and other U.S. universities protest their school’s choice of commencement speaker, they still face the big question: what’s next? Editorial cartoonist Steve Sack says they’ll face the “third degree,” while David Fitzsimmons sees a series of dot-coms in their future.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is under intense scrutiny after allegations that as many as 40 patients may have died because of long wait times at a VA hospital in Phoenix. Editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis compares’ veterans current battles to what they faced as soldiers, while Nate Beeler likens the problem to friendly fire.

For more cartoons on the VA’s troubles, check out the slideshow below.

As many college students graduate this month, they face increasing levels of student loan debt. The Senate this week unveiled legislation that would allow many of them to refinance at lower interest rates. Editorial cartoonist Bob Englehart suggests student loan debt obscures graduates’ futures, while Joe Heller compares it to the “freshman 15.”

John Kerry touched a nerve last week when he suggested the Middle East may end up with “apartheid” if Israel and the Palestinians can’t agree on a two-state solution. Editorial cartoonist Nate Beeler says Kerry’s comments poured fuel on a combustible situation, while Mike Luckovich says those who were outraged are in two states of mind.

House Speaker John Boehner says he will schedule a vote to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Boehner says e-mails released this week show that the Obama administration withheld documents from congressional investigators. Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich says “Benghazi!” is the frustrated cry of conservatives, while Chip Bok says the administration’s latest Benghazi talking point is to blame Fox News.

Many supporters of Cliven Bundy, the anti-government cattle rancher from Nevada, have abandoned him in light of his suggestion that African-Americans might have been better off in slavery. Cartoonist Rick McKee says Bundy is the Lone Ranger now, while Steve Sack points to last week’s backpedaling by Sean Hannity of Fox News.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a frequent target of criticism over the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act, announced last week that she is resigning. Editorial cartoonist Chip Bok says Sebelius was thrown under the bus on the Obamacare issue, while Steve Sack thinks the Republicans might regret having tried to push her out the door.

Former President George W. Bush recently unveiled a series of paintings of world leaders at his presidential library in Crawford, Texas. Reviews for the paintings, which will be on display until June 3, have been mixed. Several editorial cartoonists took up their own brushes to weigh in on Bush’s paintings.

In this April 15, 2013, file photo, medical workers aid injured people near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following two bomb explosions in Boston. (Charles Krupa, AP File)

By Susan ZalkindSpecial to The Washington Post

At the Boston Marathon this month, its host city will mark one year since Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly planted two bombs at the finish line, killing three and injuring hundreds more. As the nation commemorates the resilience of runners, victims, first responders and residents, many questions surrounding this tragedy remain unresolved. Let’s tackle some persistent questions about this heinous act.
1. The bombing couldn’t have been prevented.

Three months after the bombing, then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said the bureau’s failure to share information about the elder Tsarnaev wasn’t important. “Even if [procedures] had been fixed prior to the Boston bombing, I do not think it would have stopped it,” he told the House Judiciary Committee.

This is hard to believe. In 2011, Russian officials alerted the FBI to Tamerlan’s growing radicalism and asked them to monitor his travel. Though the FBI interviewed him, it didn’t stop him from traveling. A Boston agent at the Joint Terrorism Task Force received an alert from the Department of Homeland Security about Tamerlan’s flights to and from Dagestan in 2012 but Tamerlan wasn’t questioned at the airport. A similar tip Russia shared with the CIA later that year was overlooked because of a spelling error.Read more…

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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